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Can insomnia be a cause of Alzheimer's disease?

A recent study by the BarcelonaBeta Brain Research Center at the Pasqual Maragall Foundation found that people suffering from insomnia have changes in cognitive performance and brain structure in areas that are affected early in Alzheimer's disease.

The study involved 183 adults, of which 615 suffered from insomnia. The researchers analyzed data on sleep quality, results of genetic, cognitive and neuroimaging tests.

Using diffusion magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers discovered that brain areas such as the posterior cingulate cortex had a smaller volume. These results support other investigations related to insomnia as a risk factor for the onset of Alzheimer's.

The researchers also evaluated the cognitive performance of people with insomnia. Compared to normal people, those with insomnia showed worse performance in cognitive tests, especially in performing executive functions and in working memory.

In addition, the researchers linked insomnia with the genetic variant APO-ε4, which represents a high risk of developing Alzheimer's. The results showed that insomnia and its effects on the brain are enhanced by the presence of the allele, which increases the risk of people with insomnia that are carriers of the allele of developing the disease in the future.

Blue light therapy can help the brain heal.

Another recent study published in the journal Neurobiology of Disease, discovered the relationship between sleep disorders and the recovery of people who have suffered mild traumatic brain injury.

In the study, 32 adults with a history of mild traumatic brain injury in the last 18 months underwent blue light therapy or a yellow light placebo therapy.

In this small, controlled and randomized study, exposure to blue light in the early morning ours was related to the recovery of people who had suffered mild traumatic brain injury. The researchers found that blue light therapy improved the state of daytime sleepiness and nighttime sleep, and found structural changes within the brain that suggested an increased myelination process in certain parts of the white matter, as well as increased brain volume.

In neuroimaging tests, the researchers found a greater volume in the posterior thalamic area and in the thalamus-cortical connections in individuals who had been exposed to blue light therapy.

In addition, they performed neurocognitive tests and evaluated the quality of sleep, finding that there were improvements in cognitive performance and overall sleep quality, as well as a decrease in daytime sleepiness.

This study suggests an important relationship between sleep quality and brain recovery after a mild traumatic brain injury, which opens doors to new economic and effective therapies for the recovery of people who have suffered from this entity.

Another recent study involving 46 people with Alzheimer's disease, demonstrated an improvement in sleep quality and symptoms of depression and agitation, after exposure to light therapy, improving mood and sleep disorders in these people.

Sleep plays an important role in mental health and in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's disease is the most common of dementias; it is a disease that progresses from a slight loss of memory to the inability to talk and to interact with the outside world. It is a disabling condition, which can affect the ability of people to perform on their own and live independently.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), in 2014, 5 million Americans suffered from the disease. Symptoms commonly appear at age 60. The number of people with the disease doubles every five years, above the age of 65. It is projected that by 2060, the number of people with Alzheimer's disease will have tripled, exceeding the 14 million affected.

Medical science has not yet found an accurate explanation on how Alzheimer's disease occurs, there is increasing evidence about the influence of multiple factors, such as genetics and external ones. Alzheimer's is likely to be a multifactorial disease.

Diet and exercise are two factors that have recently been studied as determinants in the mental health of individuals, due to their great influence on cardiovascular risk and their relationship with the onset of mental illnesses such as vascular dementia and Alzheimer's.

Social context, stress and now insomnia, have also been related to the deterioration of mental health in individuals and the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

It is necessary to continue investigating.

These recent studies show new hope for the prevention and treatment of mental illnesses such as Alzheimer's, which has become a great burden on society, due to its high disabling power, representing a public health problem globally.

Blue light therapy could represent a simple and effective tool for the treatment of sleep disorders, since these people are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease if these sleep disorders persist over time.

This therapy could also be a way of prevention for people at high risk of Alzheimer's disease.

An active life, a balanced diet, a restful sleep and an active mind. This formula seems to be the secret to a healthy and happy life.

These simple recomendations could be the key to prevention of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementias.

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